Alaska Fire Portal

The Alaska Fire Portal provides information about fire science and technology relevant to Alaska. Our goal is to provide "one-stop shopping" for resource managers, decision makers, scientists, students, and communities who want access to the results of efforts to understand and manage fire and fuels on lands in Alaska. Content may also be relevant to boreal forests of western Canada.

A substantial amount of the Alaska-related content was originally compiled through the FIREHouse project (the Northwest and Alaska Fire Research Clearinghouse), funded by the Joint Fire Science Program, and its two related projects: the Alaska Reference Database, (which was merged the FRAMES Resource Catalog, accessible through the "Catalog Records" tab below) and the Alaska Fire and Fuels Research Map, hosted through the AICC ArcIMS mapping website.

Originally a standalone ProCite reference database, the Alaska Fire Effects Reference Database was expanded as part of the FIREHouse project, and has now been incorporated into the FRAMES Resource Catalog.

The Alaska Fire Science Consortium (AFSC) is part of a national fire science knowledge exchange network supported by the Joint Fire Science Program. The AFSC's primary purpose is to strengthen the link between fire science research and on-the-ground application by promoting communication between managers and scientists, providing an organized fire science delivery platform, and facilitating collaborative scientist-manager research development.

The Fuel Treatment Effectiveness in Alaska project was designed to assess the effectiveness of maturing treatment projects in terms of previously defined risk reduction and fire behavior objectives in order to better understand the contribution of fuel treatments to the broader economics of wildfire management in Alaska.

The vision of the World of Wildland Fire is to provide and connect fire science educators and trainers with scientifically solid and peer-reviewed teaching tools and techniques, using state-of-the-art materials, which will be free and accessible to all.

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From the text... 'Large-scale efforts to control undesirable woody species has awaited mass production of machinery to do the job effectively and economically. Our modern age of large-scale operations tends to overlook, however, that many small-...

From the text...'The unrestricted burning of vegetation appears to be a universal culture trait among historic primitive peoples and therefore was probably employed by our remote ancestors. Archeology indicates that extensive areas of the Old and...

The USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station (PNW) invites applications for a permanent full-time Research Meteorologist (series 1401) / Research Air Quality Engineer (series 0819) positionat the rank of GS-12, GS-13, or GS-14. The position is located at the Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory in Seattle, Washington and is part of the AirFire Team of the Threat Characterization and Management Program. Applications can be submitted via the USAJOBS website:https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/544454700

The PNW Research Station is one of seven research units in the USDA Forest Service. The Forest Service conducts the most extensive and productive program of integrated forestry research in the world. Scientific information produced by the USDA Forest Service AirFire Team focuses on understanding fire-atmosphere interactions, air quality, and climate with respect to wildland fire. AirFire’s research has application the across United States and in other parts of the world. The Station’s programs reflect the changing character of the questions that science is being asked to help answer.

The scientist will provide expertise to generate knowledge about fire, atmosphere, and chemistry interactions that can lead to better modeling of wildland fire emissions, plumes, and smoke. The knowledge is used to develop and deliver innovative and effective strategies, methods, and tools so people can plan, manage, or mitigate the changes, causes, and consequences associated with fire emissions and smoke.

Personal research assignment: The scientist serves as a fire/meteorology/air quality modeler and as one of four permanent, principal staff scientists with the AirFire Team. The AirFire team works closely together and the scientist is expected to collaborate on team projects within their area of expertise. The scientist is further expected to become the AirFire lead for one or more of the following critical areas of knowledge and research for the team, and participate in advancing the others: fire smoke modeling frameworks and real-time tools; coupled fire/atmosphere/smoke modeling; field work; and remote sensing. In this role the scientist is expected to serve both leadership roles within the team and also to be a national and international resource for the U.S. Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, and broader air quality community.

The scientist has roles across all three of AirFire’s problem areas: air quality, meteorology, and climate. Air Quality: The scientist helps lead advancements in atmospheric/air quality modeling, including acquisition and implementation of remotely-sensed data into models. The scientist has a primary role in assessing new satellite products for their utility towards the smoke modeling frameworks. The scientist is expected to participate in and potentially lead field campaigns focused on wildland fire smoke. Meteorology: The scientist works to understand the coupled dynamics of fire-atmosphere and fire-atmosphere-smoke interactions including how these dynamics affect fire behavior and consumption and lead to the development of fire plumes that loft emissions into the atmosphere. Additionally, the scientist works to understand how advances in meteorological ensemble modeling can be applied to fire and smoke and how to codify this knowledge within numeric models and tools. Climate: The scientist, as one of the lead modelers, will assist with development of improved modeling strategies to quantify the above issues and the uncertainty surrounding them in future climate projections.

The scientist is expected to work nationally and to collaborate with the broader scientific community to create specific projects that can advance these goals. The scientist is also expected to engage directly with the management community including land managers, fire managers, and air quality regulators, and to support training of managers in areas related to their individual areas of expertise.

Location: Seattle and its surrounding areas are the major population center for Washington State. It is home to a number of research institutions and universities including the University of Washington, and numerous technical and environmental companies and non-profits. It is an innovative, highly-educated city featuring outstanding schools, diverse cultural centers, many outdoor activities, a thriving arts community, acclaimed restaurants, and a temperate climate. Seattle is served by both the SeaTac International Airport and the Paine Field Regional Airport as well as by train, bus, and ferry services.

Air Resources Specialist (Physical Scientist)GS-1301 -13Bureau of Land ManagementAlaska State OfficeAnchorage, Alaska

A new air resource specialist position with the BLM in Alaska is now advertised and posted to USAjobs.gov for three weeks, August 27 to September 18.

This position will be located in the Alaska State Office, Division of Resources, in Anchorage Alaska. The employee serves in a professional capacity as a senior staff expert for air resource activities, providing advice and support to the State Directorate, Deputy State Directors and District and Field Managers. The employee is responsible for the technical adequacy of air resources program development and management, primarily for Bureau Land Use Plans and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) related impact assessments, and serves as an expert consultant in coordinating activities between other agencies, universities, and research institutions.

The air resources specialist supports BLM’s multiple use mission by developing and implementing air resource projects to fulfill the full suite of the BLM activities and use authorizations. In Alaska, these actions and authorizations could include, but are not limited to, energy development, subsistence, recreation, forest management, noise impacts, and smoke management. Additionally, as the only US Arctic state, air quality issues in Alaska are different from the Lower 48 and offer unique challenges.

BLM Alaska is looking for someone with strong experience in conducting and reviewing air dispersion modeling, as well as thorough understanding and experience of technical 'state-of-the-art' advances in air resource and noise impact management. This position will present both challenging and rewarding opportunities in the great state of Alaska!

Since this is the first Air Resource Specialist for BLM Alaska, the incumbent has the opportunity to develop this position and demonstrate its importance and usefulness. The demand for air expertise has been growing steadily in recent years all across the country as well as Alaska, both due to increased workloads and the diversity of air resources related issues.

The Forest Steward's Guild is looking to survey organizations that either currently practice prescribed fire or would like to in the future. This will help better understand the insurance market across the country and work with brokers and underwriters to produce a better product. They would like as broad of a sample as possible, spanning all types of fire practitioner backgrounds in order to best understand what is needed!

How you can help: take the survey and forward it to practitioners who might want insurance to implement prescribed burns or better prescribed fire insurance coverage than they currently have.

Prescribed fire is vital to ecosystems and is becoming widely regarded as a cost-effective management tool with major benefit. However, even the most carefully planned burn comes with some risk. This is an incredibly large barrier to implementation due to the lack of high-quality liability insurance available. This problem continues to grow as more agencies pull their prescribed fire insurance plans from the market.

The Forest Steward’s Guild has struggled with this exact barrier and has uncovered some currently available options and potential long-term solutions. For more information on the background of this project and FAQs, please visit https://foreststewardsguild.org/prescribed-fire-insurance

Nominations are now open for new members of the International Association of Wildland Fires' (IAWF) Board of Directors. Nominations will be accepted through September 30, 2019 and successful candidates will begin their 3-year term on January 1, 2020. Individuals meeting the requirements may self-nominate.

AFE is holding a photo contest in conjunction with the 2019 Fire Congress. Winning photos will be showcased throughout the Fire Congress and in future AFE materials (e.g., websites, publications, displays).

A team of judges will select an overall winner, runner up, and winners in 5 special categories: After the Fire, Animals and Fire, Fire in Motion, Fire Landscapes, People and Fire.

The Association for Fire Ecology (AFE) has been awarded the privilege of administering the distribution of the Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP) TREE grant, which is designed to help graduate students travel to present at conferences, symposia, and workshops related to wildland fire science and management.

All registered graduate students in good academic standing in a field related to wildland fire science, ecology, or management in the U.S. are eligible to apply for grants. Depending on costs and the number of applicants, grants may fund all or a portion of estimated travel expenses including transportation, lodging, registration fees, and presentation preparation costs, where applicable. Funds cannot be used for food and incidentals, student stipends, direct research costs, or faculty research/administration costs. Grants will be paid as reimbursements for submitted receipts.

Grants are limited and competitively awarded, and can only be awarded to current graduate students in the U.S. who are presenting the results of their fire-related research. This grant is for students without other Joint Fire Science Program support.

In 2008, a small group of landowners and conservation partners from the Blackfoot River valley and around the country gathered in western Montana to discuss aspects of landscape-scale collaborative conservation through public-private partnerships....

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Smoke Managers Subcommittee is a collection of land and air quality managers from across North America interested in working together to facilitate an increase in prescribed burning while minimizing air quality impacts. All interested persons are...

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The FRI Research Symposium features forward-thinking presentations on the latest fire-based research and how it can be applied at the local level to improve fire service effectiveness. Leading researchers from around the world will present on topics...

The Nation’s authoritative assessment of climate impacts, the Fourth National Climate Assessment Vol. II: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States (NCA4 Vol. II) was released in November 2018. This presentation will address the impacts of...